Orthopedic pillows and pillow cases have been developed to support the head and neck. U.S. Pat. No. 4,754,513 to Rinz, for example, discloses a pillow case with a single compartment, extending the length of one of the long sides of a standard rectangular pillow, for holding an elastomeric insert. The insert is designed to support a person's neck. However, the pillow case does not provide support for the side of the person's head and does not provide a way for the user to adjust the thickness of the center region of the pillow, the sides of the pillow, the top of the pillow, or the bottom of the pillow.
Orthopedic pillows having several sections have also been developed. However, these pillows and pillow covers tend to be bulky and cumbersome. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,849,810 to Degen shows a pillow and pillow case made up of three interconnecting sections of equal size. Each section is separated by a vertical cut which extends part-way down the pillow and pillow case. The central section is about half as thick as the other two sections. By adding an additional panel capable of being rolled up, to the central section of the pillow case, the pillow may be modified to include a neck roll. The disadvantage with the Degen pillow is that forming the neck roll section is cumbersome. The user has to roll up the panel and place it in a compartment in the pillow case. Another disadvantage of the Degen pillow is that the rolled up panel may come unrolled while it is being used.
Some of orthopedic pillows have two parallel neck roll compartments. German patent DE 3138463 A1 to Jackle for instance shows a pillow case having two compartments for holding a support pillow which extends for the entire length of the pillow case. While the dual parallel compartments provide a place to hold head and neck support pillows a user does not have the ability to adjust the thickness of other parts of the pillow (e.g., the depth of the center of the pillow where the user places his head or the thickness of the short sides of the pillow).